Babysitters Are Sharing The Most Bizarre And Frankly Uncomfortable Rules Parents Set For Them While On The Job

I'm sure some of you have babysat for some wild children before. But have you ever had a situation where the parents were the problem? Reddit user u/Oberon_Sexton_ asked the Redditsphere to share stories about the most deranged families they've ever had to babysit for. Here are some of the top-rated responses:

1. "I was considering babysitting a family with twin 18-month-olds. They did not allow the word 'no' or for the children to share ('They're developing their own identities'). If they played together, I had to stop them because that was sharing. One of the kids flipped over the back of the couch because I couldn't tell her not to climb."

2. "I had to call the kid different names in a public place. Because the real names were unusual and the parents were worried about kidnapping. They also had me say that I was the mom in baby classes that were attended by parents they didn’t know."

— u/Minniemoo523

3. "The parents were bodybuilders and had one daughter. I don't even know what her name actually was because I heard them call her so many different things. Emma, Emmie, Emory, Every, Avery, and one time Emerson. It was bizarre. Anyway, this kid would lose her mind unless I played Bubble Guppies on TV and consistently fed her cheese. I would usually try and distract her with any other snack but she would only eat cheese. The parents encouraged me to give her all the cheese she wants ('she's going through that stage where she only eats cheese')..."

"... I was seriously concerned for this kid's health. For 2 years, I had only ever seen her eat cheese. She was constipated almost every time I babysat. One time I ended up feeding her an entire block of cheese in two hours and refused to babysit for them after that."

— u/norberthp

4. "One mom had me take her 2-year-old to the park to play after daycare REGARDLESS of the weather. So if it was freezing cold, raining, or windy she didn’t care. Most of the time I’d put the girl in her stroller, made sure she was warm, and just walked around the park until it was time to go home."

5. "I once worked with a family that wanted me to change their toddler's clothes after we went to the park, museum, or anywhere outdoors. And this was prepandemic. I quit after 2 weeks."

— u/cajc

6. "I once babysat a 3-year-old who couldn’t have sweets or anything with sugar in it unless it was her birthday, and after dinner, her dessert was one half of a strawberry."

— u/MyMumSaidICantGo

7. "I once 'babysat' for a family and the parents basically underpaid me to tutor their children in math (and at 8 and 10, their kids were freakishly smart, and I could hardly help them at 18). The parents were BOTH home while I 'babysat.' The daughter started to goof off for a minute and asked if I could braid her hair like I had braided mine. When I did, the dad came in and yelled at us (mostly me) because it was time for studying, and this was not a 'beauty shop.' It was so uncomfortable."

8. "Babysat for the neighbor of a family friend. Seemly normal house as you walked in the front door. I go through to what would have been a normal family lounge...All four walls are covered floor to ceiling in tanks containing snakes, lizards, spiders, terrapins, and fish. Go into the kitchen, more tanks. The kid I'm babysitting has two tanks in his room. There are tanks in the hallway upstairs. This house is basically a zoo. The guy is late for wherever he's meant to be going to because he's trying to get me to hold a tarantula that 'hasn't eaten for a few days so may bite you.' Um, yeah, no thanks...

"...I spent the longest six hours of my life constantly thinking something was crawling on me. When he dropped me home, he told my dad he said I could play with his snake if I wanted to, but sadly, I declined. He kept ringing me up and asking me to babysit again, but oh no, how unfortunate, I was always busy. Also, his kid was a little shit."

— u/petitepamplemousse

9. "I was 12 and the family down the street asked me to babysit for their 5-year-old, 3-year-old, and infant. Keep in mind I am in seventh grade, and they want me to take care of two children and an infant alone in their house for an evening. The kids are okay enough...the baby sleeps through the night, and they go to bed OK (I only have to go upstairs a few times because I heard them talking). However, the parents were supposed to be home at 10, and it's going on 11:30. My mom calls the house and I say they're not home yet. I have school in the morning..."

"...She says give them another half hour then call me back. They don't show, don't call, and it's midnight and I'm 12. Call mom back. She has to come over to sit with the kids so I can go home and go to bed. Apparently, the parents rolled in drunk as fuck around 3 a.m. I never babysat for them again."

— thebloodofthematador

10. "There was an order in which we had to go up and down the stairs."

11. "I once babysat for a family with two young daughters. When they put the girls to bed at night, they would apparently always refuse to stay in their rooms. So the parents switched the locks around on their doors so they'd lock from the outside. Bedtime rolls around, and I can't do it. I can't lock those kids in their bedrooms! It was too fucked up! The whole thing was honestly pretty traumatizing for little 13-year-old me. Had I been older and more informed, I probably would have wanted to call CPS. That seriously cannot be a normal/healthy parenting decision."

— u/maz_lotus

12. "The parents were vegan and so were the kids (4 and 2). The parents had never explained their reasoning for being vegan to the kids, so it fell to me, a non-vegan, to explain the family's dietary choices to them. The little one would also cry hysterically if I ate something that wasn't vegan."

— u/lanallamaa

13. "My sister babysat and wasn't allowed to leave (the parents refused to drive her home) until she did all the dishes — dishes that were there from the family BEFORE she showed up to babysit! She was pissed, and when that same family tried to get me to babysit, they were pissed I refused to. But I'm not a fucking maid for hire. You can't just make a 14-year-old clean your house because you hired them to watch your kids for an evening."

14. "One time the father of the family called me to a computer I had never used before in the basement. He accused me of accessing inappropriate sites on it and said since his two sons said they didn't do it it must be me. Yeah, okay, pal. Hope your two perfect cherubs remained pure."

— u/smears

15. And finally, "I once babysat for an only child. It was pretty normal until the kid wanted to play a game. He started to play Minecraft, and I watched a bit. All he did was murder rabbits for two hours. The parents came back hammered, sent the kid to their room, and started making out. They asked me if I wanted to join."

— u/groolmate

Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.